Composing Greatness: #11. The Freshman Class of the 2010's - "Jackie" (2016)

Scene from Jackie (2016)

Welcome to Composing Greatness: a column dedicated to exploring the work of film composers. This will specifically focus on the films that earned them Oscar nominations while exploring what makes it so special. This will be broken down into a look at the overall style, interesting moments within the composition, and what made the score worth nominating in the first place. This will also include various subcategories where I will rank the themes of each film along with any time that the composer actually wins. This is a column meant to explore a side of film that doesn't get enough credit while hopefully introducing audiences to an enriched view of more prolific composers' work. This will only cover scores/songs that are compiled in an easily accessible format (so no extended scores will be considered). Join me every Sunday as I cover these talents that if you don't know by name, you recognize by sound.

Series Composer: Mica Levi

Entry: Jackie (2016)

Collaborators (If Available): N/A

Nomination: Best Original Score

Did They Win: No

Other Nominees:
Best Original Score
-La La Land (Justin Hurwitz)*winner
-Lion (Hauschka & Justin O'Halloran)
-Moonlight (Nicholas Britell)
-Passengers (Thomas Newman)

Additional Information

This is to help provide perspective of where each composer is in their Oscar-nominated life as it related to the current entry.

Oscar Nomination: 1

Oscar Wins: 0

Track List

1. "Intro"
2. "Children"
3. "Car"
4. "Tears"
5. "Autopsy"
6. "Empty White House"
7. "Graveyard"
8. "Lee Harvey Oswald"
9. "Walk to the Capitol"
10. "Vanity"
11. "Decision Made"
12. "Burial"
13. "The End"
14. "Credits"

Note: Listen to here.

Exploring the Music

The area of the column where I will explore the music in as much detail as I see fit for each entry.

Theme Exploration:

"Intro"

While it seemed like Jackie was one of the more overlooked movies at the Oscars that year, it's a relief that they recognized the music for the film. Mica Levi has been known for her love of strong uses of a violin. Here it works to complement a historical drama by sounding a bit... warped. Considering that the film has ties to the Camelot mythology (itself a popular musical at the time), it could be perceived as a record playing, only that it's warped and reaching its last days. It's bittersweet, and the warping of melodies coming in and out only makes it more haunting as if it's holding on for dear life. For a score that lacks the flair of its peers, it manages to create an atmosphere and mood better than them at times. 

Interesting Standout:
"Burial"

Mica Levi continues the soundtrack by incorporating different motifs that help to build the sorrow around the warped record feel. In this particular case, the melodies start to fade in favor of a clawing sound, as if dirt is being flung over the melody. It's fitting for the track and seems to be putting to rest a specific moment in time. It's beautiful and captures a rich texture of sound while also capturing the weirdness that gained her acclaim for her previous work on Under the Skin. If anything, Jackie proves that she has legs and will hopefully be able to fill life with the most beautiful forms of despair imaginable. 

Best Moment:
"The End"

This was difficult to parse through, especially given the short length of the entire score and its slight use of melody. However, there's no denying that from the pulsating rhythms that came before is this new phoenix of a sound. It's beautiful and rising from the ashes, wind instruments breathing new life into everything. It's perfect in how it manages to convey not a recount of the motifs, but how the themes have grown throughout the soundtrack and find the inner logic of Jackie starting to grow and move on. It's no longer a warped record of the past. It's the start of something new and exciting.

Did This Deserve an Oscar Nomination?:
Yes

This is one of few cases where my personal bias has been written about on The Oscar Buzz before (see here). While I totally understand why Justin Hurwitz's La La Land won over it for being more conventional in its charm, Levi feels more in line with the new class of composer nominees like Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross, Steven Price, or Johan Johannsson. She is playing with sound so effectively and finding ways to recontextualize the familiar. While it has always bugged me that this score is inherently short and feels over before you can get into the groove, I see it more as a compliment, and I can only hope that Mica Levi continues to do wonderful work in the years ahead and hopefully wind up in this Oscar circle again.

Up Next: Best Original Score - Hauschka & Dustin O'Halloran, Lion (2016)

Best Theme

A ranking of all themes composed by The Freshman Class of the 2010's.

1. Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross: "Hand Covers Bruise" - The Social Network (2010)
2. John Powell: "This is Berk" - How to Train Your Dragon (2010)
3. Mica Levi: "Intro" - Jackie (2016)
4. Johan Johannsson: "Cambridge, 1963" - The Theory of Everything (2014)
5. Mychael Danna: "Piscine Molitar Patel" - Life of Pi (2012)
6. Will Butler & Owen Pallett: "Sleepwalker" - Her (2013)
7. Gary Yershon: "Mr. Turner" - Mr. Turner (2014)
8. Ludovic Bource: "The Artist Overture" - The Artist (2011)
9. Justin Hurwitz: "Mia Gets Home" - La La Land (2016)
10. Johan Johannsson: "The Armored Vehicle" - Sicario (2015)
11. Steven Price: "Above Earth" - Gravity (2013)